In Hudson Valley, Farmers’ Markets Offer Local Food and Local Chat

The Hyde Park Farmers Market.Credit
Chris Ramirez for The New York Times

AFTER buying a weekend house in the Hudson Valley town of Hyde Park, in 2003, Karina Krepp and her husband, Christien Methot, attended the grand opening of a farmers’ market, held on the grassy sprawl of the town’s drive-in theater. As city dwellers who frequented the Union Square farmers’ market in Manhattan, they had anticipated a rinky-dink set-up, confessed Ms. Krepp, 37, a freelance personal trainer, and Mr. Methot, 39, a lighting designer.

Instead that first visit was a revelation. Chatting with farmers, running into neighbors and meeting like-minded people as children milled about, they enjoyed the access to their community. “There’s nothing like buying farm-fresh food, supporting your neighbors and being social all in one fell swoop,” Ms. Krepp said.

The agricultural bounty of the Hudson Valley, once known as the “breadbasket of New York,” is now celebrated at green markets that have sprouted throughout New York City since 1976. Increasingly, however, farmers’ markets have also become an important part of the social and economic fabric in Dutchess and Columbia Counties, where second-home owners — many of them from New York City — have helped bring an appreciation for locally grown food back to the source. Thanks to the locavore trend, both fledgling and established markets have managed to gain a greater toehold in Hudson Valley communities.

“In 2007 we saw a significant uptick of visitors, reflecting this mind-set shift toward ‘buying local,’ ” said Cheryl Paff, business manager for the Rhinebeck Farmers’ Market in Dutchess County, now in its 15th year. Food safety concerns also contribute to their popularity, said Diane Eggert, executive director of the Farmers’ Market Federation of New York.

Three miles north of the Culinary Institute of America, the Hyde Park market, with its unusual drive-in setting and low-key atmosphere, attracts a mix of locals, tourists, weekenders and students who sometimes do cooking demonstrations as well. “The social scene has really evolved,” said Michael Dupree, a founder of the market and now chairman of the Hyde Park Planning Board.

Even tiny markets are a draw, like the one in Hillsdale in Columbia County. There are fewer than a dozen stands, and it is only open every other weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Yul and Arthur Kaseman, who have a weekend home nearby, go as often as they can. Ms. Kaseman, 34, a hedge-fund client-services specialist in Manhattan, said she likes to understand the source of the food she buys. Hillsdale’s intimate size means that she can connect easily with local growers and learn about their practices. “When I get the additional information I’m seeking from a farmer who is my neighbor — not just a commercial seller — it makes the food I buy that much more special,” she said.

Talea and Doug Fincke, both 50, agree. “Small farming is our passion, and we think small is big,” Ms. Fincke said. For 23 years they have been growing fruit — and recently some vegetables — on 40 acres at the 18th-century Montgomery Place estate in Annandale-on-Hudson, owned by the nonprofit preservation group Historic Hudson Valley. The couple run the Montgomery Place Orchards Farm Stand nearby, a showcase for their produce and homemade jams as well as local products like Awesome Farm’s pasture-raised whole chickens and Nettle Meadow’s herb-infused fromage blanc.

“We’re seasonal purists,” Ms. Fincke said, pushing red raspberries through a sieve at her jam-making table on a recent Sunday afternoon. The Finckes’ just-picked black raspberries, white peaches, antique apples and heirloom tomatoes are a magnet for second-home owners, nearby Bard College faculty members and students, and famous visitors, like the actress Uma Thurman and the singer Natalie Merchant.

For Nancy Ploeger, who owns a weekend home in Claverack, in Columbia County, the pleasure of eating food “just plucked out of the dirt or off a tree” is compounded by her appreciation for how hard farmers like Ruth and Vic Ambrose work. The Ambroses, both in their 80s, remain hands-on at their Scarecrow Farm in Hollowville, growing produce and raising sheep for wool and free-range hens for what Ms. Ploeger, 59, described as “the best tasting eggs, bar none.” Ms. Ambrose also jars honey, pickles vegetables, bakes cookies and runs their crafts shop.

As president of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Ploeger understands the struggles of small businesses. As much as she can, she said, she buys directly from the Ambroses and the Hudson Farmers’ Market, where she patronizes different stands, including Scarecrow Farm’s, every Saturday.

Photo

Andy Szymanowicz sells Sol Flower Farm produce at the Millbrook Farmers Market.Credit
Chris Ramirez for The New York Times

For Elizabeth Mayhew, a decorating expert and contributor to NBC’s “Today” program, buying local is more important than buying organic all the time, which can be expensive, she said. On Saturday mornings Ms. Mayhew, 40, her daughter, Madeleine, 12, and son, Charlie, 9, typically make the rounds at the small but lively market in Millbrook, where they have a second home. Saying that “grocery stores are where vegetables go to die,” she added that she valued Sol Flower Farm produce, Herondale Farm grass-fed beef and pasture-raised pork, and Millbrook Farmhouse cheeses. “I’ve come to rely on finding — and supporting — certain products there that my family loves,” she said.

Through farmers’ markets some longtime growers have developed a prolific business. “We make 75 to 80 percent of our sales at farmers’ markets,” said Ken Migliorelli, a Tivoli grower who sells to 40 markets a week throughout the New York metropolitan area as well as the Hudson Valley. Mr. Migliorelli and his father, Rocco, were among the original vendors at the Union Square green market in 1982 — a move that saved the family’s farm from bankruptcy. “Our upstate operations are now a bigger part of our business,” Mr. Migliorelli said. Because he grows 150 varieties of fruits and vegetables, Migliorelli Farm produce is frequently sought for new farmers’ markets throughout the Hudson Valley.

Of course the quality of the produce is paramount. “It’s easier to support a community institution when it’s good,” said Eric Wallach, 62, an Upper East Side lawyer who views the Sunday farmers’ market in Rhinebeck, where he and his wife Miriam, 60, weekend, as a great asset. Whether they buy from the bread stand, fruit grower or newly installed fishmonger, “the quality of the food is very high,” Ms. Wallach said. The couple, who frequently shop open-air markets in Provence, France, give their local market high marks. “On a much smaller scale, Rhinebeck holds its own,” Ms. Wallach said.